1. Each of the police forces in England and Wales has its
own Special Branch. Except for the Metropolitan Police Special
Branch, which has responsibilities in relation to Irish Republican
extremism and terrorism throughout Great Britain, the responsibility
of each Special Branch relates only to the area of the force
of which it is a part.

2. All members of a Special Branch are responsible to the
chief officer of the force through the head of the Branch and
any intervening supervisory ranks in the force structure.

Specific functions

3. The specific functions fisted below comprise those tasks
which will most commonly fall to be undertaken by the force Special
Branch. However, in some force areas, it may be necessary or
desirable for some of these functions to be undertaken by other
parts of the force CID or a specialist unit. It will be an operational
matter for each chief officer to decide how best to utilise his
resources within the force Special Branch.

4. The work of a Special Branch arises from the chief officer's
responsibility for the preservation of the Queen's Peace. Its
work is to assist the chief officer in discharging this responsibility.

5. A Special Branch gathers information about threats to public
order. Such information will enable the Branch to provide assessments
of whether marches, meetings, demonstrations and pickets pose
any threat to public order and help the chief officer to determine
an appropriate level of policing.

6. A Special Branch assists the Security Service in carrying
out its tasks of defending the realm against attempts at espionage
and sabotage or from the actions of persons and organisations
whether directed from within or without the country which may
be judged to be subversive to the State. A large part of this
effort is devoted to the study and investigation of terrorism,
including the activities of international terrorists and terrorist
organisations.

7. A Special Branch provides information about extremists
and terrorist groups to the Security Service (or, in the case
of Irish Republican extremists and terrorist groups, to the Metropolitan
Police Special Branch).

8. A Special Branch assists in the application of the Travel
Notification Scheme for diplomats and officials.

9. Special Branch officers may provide armed personal protection
for certain people who are judged to be at risk. Particular attention
should be paid to anyone who may plan to harm prominent individuals
for political reasons or because of mental disturbance.

10. At airports and seaports, Special Branch officers arrest
wanted criminals, detect offences, gather information relating
to their other functions and other criminal matters, act as examining
officers under the legislation on the prevention of terrorism

11. On behalf of the Immigration and Nationality Department
of the Home Office, a Special Branch may be asked to carry out
naturalisation enquiries, and may assist with immigration enquiries
as well as deal with the registration of foreign nationals. A
Special Branch may also be involved in prosecutions related to
these matters. In practice much of the routine work in these
areas may be undertaken by other parts of the force; the appropriate
organisational structure will be determined by the size of the
force and the number and nature of these enquiries.

12. A Special Branch should enquire into the implications
of any offence connected with firearms and explosives unless
it is immediately clear that there is no security interest. It
may be advisable to include in force orders an instruction that
Special Branch be informed immediately of all such cases coming
to the notice of the police.

Relations with others

13. The Metropolitan Police Special Branch is responsible
for the assessment of intelligence about Irish Republican extremism
and terrorism in Great Britain. Each Special Branch, under the
direction of its chief officer, helps the Metropolitan Police
Special Branch in discharging this function.

14. The Metropolitan Police has certain national responsibilities
for the provision of personal protection to members of the Royal
Family, Ministers of the Crown,has protection duties which are
connected with the matters which are the responsibility of the
Metropolitan Police, the local Special Branch and Metropolitan
Police Special Branch or Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department
work in close liaison with each other.

15. The National joint Unit at New Scotland Yard, which is
staffed by officers from Metropolitan and provincial Special
Branches, coordinates enquiries and applications from police
forces in Great Britain concerning people held under prevention
of terrorism legislation. The Unit processes, for onward transmission
to the Home Office or the Scottish Home and Health Department
as the case may be, applications for extension of detention and
exclusion orders under the legislation and coordinates the preparation
of up to date assessments in connection with the review of exclusion
cases. The National Ports Office, based at Heathrow Airport,
provides a liaison and advisory service for ports units in other
force areas.

Records

16. Records should be maintained in order to discharge effectively
the functions listed in paragraphs 3 12 above. It is important,
however, because of the particular sensitivity of the information
concerned, that only information relevant to those functions
should be recorded. Close attention should therefore be paid
to paragraphs 3 12, and to the definitions given in paragraph
20, in deciding what information should be recorded or not recorded.
Data on individuals or organisations should not under any circumstances
be collected or held solely on the basis that such a person or
organisation supports unpopular causes or on the basis of race
or creed.

17. It is also important to ensure that, wherever possible,
information recorded about an individual is authenticated and
does not give a false or misleading impression. Care should be
taken to ensure that only necessary and relevant information
is recorded and retained. Each Special Branch should therefore
maintain an effective system both for updating information where
necessary and for weeding out and destroying information which
can no longer be clearly related to the discharge of its functions.

18. Access to information held by Special Branch should be
strictly limited to those who have a particular need to know.
Under no circumstances should information be passed to commercial
firms or to employers' organisations.

19. The security of records maintained by Special Branch is
of paramount importance. Because of the sensitivity of the information
concerned and because of the damage to individuals which might
result if unauthorised persons were to gain access to it, or
if improper use were made of the information, Special Branches
must ensure that the most stringent and appropriate precautions
are taken to safeguard the information and to protect it against
both unauthorised access or disclosure and accidental loss.

Definitions

20.

Espionage:

Covert or illegal attempts to acquire information or materialsin
order to assist a foreign power.

Sabotage:

An act failing short of a military operation, or an omission,
intended to cause physical damage in order to assist a hostile
foreign power, or to further a subversive political aim.

Terrorism:

The use of violence for political ends, including any use
of violence for the purpose of putting the public or any section
of the public in fear.

Subversion:

Subversive activities are those which threaten the safety
or well being of the State, and which are intended to undermine
or overthrow parliamentary democracy by political, industrial
or violent means.

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